Cost of living comparison

El Salvador

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 19.6% cheaper than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 3.5% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 41.7% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 50.3% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 40.2% less in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 63.0% more in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.9% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 26.3% less in Pretoria

The cost of childcare, transportation, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Pretoria are more expensive than in San Salvador. Expenses including groceries, housing, and clothing are lower in Pretoria.

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Pretoria vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of San Salvador, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.5% more for restaurants

	San Salvador	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 SVC59.02	$9.01 ZAR149.38	+33.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.21	$5.41 ZAR89.63	-22.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 SVC10.01	$1.06 ZAR17.56	-7.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 SVC7.29	$0.85 ZAR14.11	+2.1%
Average			+3.5%

San Salvador vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.7% less for groceries

	San Salvador	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 SVC24.92	$1.10 ZAR18.30	-61.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.85 SVC33.69	$4.18 ZAR69.28	+8.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.95 SVC60.77	$4.45 ZAR73.72	-36.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.02 SVC26.37	$2.47 ZAR40.94	-18.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.16 SVC27.64	$2.23 ZAR37.04	-29.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.29 SVC20.05	$0.79 ZAR13.17	-65.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SVC5.53	$0.74 ZAR12.28	+17.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 SVC10.34	$0.79 ZAR13.17	-32.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 SVC13.67	$0.72 ZAR11.98	-53.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 SVC11.65	$0.50 ZAR8.22	-62.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.49 SVC13.04	$0.54 ZAR8.98	-63.7%
Average			-41.7%

San Salvador vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 50.3% more for transportation

	San Salvador	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.75 SVC41.57	$5.75 ZAR95.27	+20.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.50 SVC327.89	$177.56 ZAR2,942.84	+373.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SVC219K	$35,391.94 ZAR587K	+41.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.00 SVC262.31	$6.55 ZAR108.55	-78.2%
Average			+50.3%

San Salvador vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 40.2% less for housing

	San Salvador	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.50 SVC371.61	$36.83 ZAR610.43	-13.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$898.99 SVC7,860.51	$454.27 ZAR7,528.89	-49.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$770.00 SVC6,732.65	$405.14 ZAR6,714.76	-47.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.35 SVC868.71	$115.49 ZAR1,914.15	+16.2%
Average			-40.2%

San Salvador vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 63.0% more for childcare

	San Salvador	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.67 SVC1,422.31	$260.78 ZAR4,322.14	+60.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,720.00 SVC41,270.25	$7,821.75 ZAR130K	+65.7%
Average			+63.0%

San Salvador vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.9% more for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.49	$2.55 ZAR42.33	+27.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 SVC31.00	$2.25 ZAR37.35	-36.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC34.97	$3.25 ZAR53.86	-18.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.60 SVC276.30	$31.49 ZAR521.97	-0.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SVC43.72	$7.21 ZAR119.51	+44.2%
Average			+2.9%

San Salvador vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.3% less for clothing

	San Salvador	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.15 SVC587.14	$53.03 ZAR878.94	-21.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.00 SVC410.95	$32.00 ZAR530.44	-31.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.33 SVC1,034.67	$91.85 ZAR1,522.34	-22.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.00 SVC1,023.01	$82.87 ZAR1,373.48	-29.2%
Average			-26.3%

San Salvador vs. Pretoria - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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